I laughed and said, "You and I are a good match. We both have a shot to win."

"It’s nice to get together for a game," Ricky said. "At least pool is one thing men still do better than women."

"Don’t let Karen Corr or Allison Fisher hear you say that!" I said. "Women have caught up with us at this, too. They’re already running the world."

"Oh, come on!" Ricky responded. "You know as well as I do that there’s still a few things, like pool and poker, where men are still superior. Why, you or I could handle any woman in this place easily."

"Would you care to back that up with a game or two?" said an angry-sounding woman’s voice. I turned and saw a tall, matronly-looking woman, with light-brown (or as some people say, "dirty blond") hair, staring at us. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her.

"Thanks for volunteering me," I growled at him. "You don’t have the guts to back up your words with action? I’m not the one who shot off his mouth."

"Just beat her and let’s go," Ricky said.

"Best of 5, OK?" said the woman. "That way we can tell who’s better for sure. 1 game could be won on luck."

"OK," I agreed. "8-ball’s the game."

"I’m out of here," Ricky said. "My wife is gonna read me the riot act when I get home, and the longer I stay, the worse it’ll be."

"Bye, Ricky," I said. "I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m lucky enough not to have a wife, and one advantage is that I can set my own hours."

"Yeah, yeah," Ricky said. "Catch you next week."

"Ladies first," I said to the woman, gesturing that she should break. "I’m James. It’s nice to meet you."

"I’m Ali," she said. "It’s nice to meet you, though I could do without the chauvinist pig you were with."

"Don’t worry about him," I said. "He’s henpecked by his wife and sometimes has to let off steam. That’s why he goes out with me every Saturday, to get away from it all."

Ali ran the first 2 racks without a miss. I finally got to the table after she had sunk 6 striped balls in rack #3. A safety seemed like the best play, so I put the cue ball behind a virtual wall of 4 of my balls, leaving her almost no play to even make contact with the 12-ball, her last remaining one. She walked around the table, looked at the shot closely, then sent the cue ball off 3 rails to sink the 12-ball and set her up perfectly on the 8. The light bulb went off in my brain as I put my jaw back in place. She sank the 8-ball and said, "Tell your friend that women are superior." But she said it with a smile.

"My goodness," I said. "I recognize you! You’re Allison Fisher! May I say that I am greatly honored to have had the chance to compete against you? You’re my favorite billiards player. Would it be possible to get your autograph?"

Allison Fisher smiled and said, "It’s nice to meet a real fan. You seem very personable. Would you like to come home with me and I can show you some tricks of the trade?"

I couldn’t believe it. It took me all of 2 nanoseconds to say, "I’d love to, Miss Fisher."

"Allison," she said. "Please call me Allison, all right, James?"

"All right, Allison," I replied.

We got into her car and she began driving. "It’s about 15 minutes from here," she said. "This is where I live when I’m not on the road. I like it because it’s not a huge city."

"It must be a tough life," I commented." "Do you ever get lonely?"

"All the time," she said. "I don’t have a husband or even a boyfriend to come back to, either, which makes it doubly tough. Even when I‘m not traveling I’m still lonely. Men can’t accept the fact I’m good at an activity they feel is reserved for males."

"I wouldn’t have a problem with it," I said. "Women are equal – actually superior, looking objectively – to men at just about everything, so why should billiards be any different?"

"You’re very nice," she said. "It’s rare to meet a man who’s humble and personable."

We arrived at her house and my jaw dropped again. It had to be close to 10,000 square feet. "Wow," I said.

"Most of my money is in this house," Allison commented. "I have just enough in the bank to live frugally on the interest. That’s one reason I still compete."

"Not to mention that you’re still the best," I said.

"That’s sweet of you to say that," she said," but it’s not true. I’ll still win the occasional tournament, but the young players are taking over."

She took me to the game room, where 3 pool tables were set up in the center. "Shot-making basics," she said, "begin with the following…" She demonstrated some techniques, and I did my best to learn from them. After an hour or so, she said, "That’s enough for a first lesson. Time for a breather. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, I am, actually," I said. I hadn’t realized how long it had been since the last time I had eaten – 5 hours. "If you will show me the kitchen, I will whip up my specialty. I think you will like it."

"You’re the guest," Allison, said, "and guests don’t cook!"

"Don’t be ridiculous," I said. "You’re the one with a ridiculously stressful life, on the road all the time, always having to perform at top level, lonely even when you’re not traveling. You sit down and relax. Do you like omelettes?"

"That does sound good," she said.

20 minutes later, two of my special Rocky Mountain omelettes and a side of salad and fruit for both of us was on the table. "I learned how to make these from my friend Vince," I told her. "Dig in!"

We both sat down and attacked our dinner. "My, these are good," Allison said. "I may have to hire you as a cook!"

I laughed. Then I turned serious. "Allison," I said, "I would sell my soul to have the opportunity to be your companion. I have watched you on TV for years, and you’re one of the best pool players ever to play the game, but that’s got nothing to do with why I would say, and mean, what I just said. You are attractive, charming, personable, and very fun to be with. I can’t think of any qualities that rate higher on the pantheon than those ones."

"Do you really mean that?" Allison replied.

"Every word of it," I assured her.

"I’ve been trying to find a boyfriend for years," she said, "and everyone is either after me just because I’m a celebrity or terrified because I’m a super player. No one has ever focused on just me."

"That’s their loss!" I said.

"I guess there’s only one more test," Allison responded. "And if you’ll help me get these dishes put away, James, I’ll explain what I mean."

We rose from the table, cleared it, and put everything in the dishwasher. After we washed our hands, Allison pointed to the couch and said, "Wait here for me – I’ll just be a minute or two."

About two minutes later, I heard her call out, "OK, James… come on up." I followed her voice to a door upstairs. When I opened the door, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Allison was lying on a monster bed… stark naked!

"If we’re going to be together, we have to be compatible in bed," she told me. "Take off your clothes and climb on up."

I wasn’t about to refuse that invitation. As I stripped, she pushed a hidden button and a soft instrumental filled the air from her stereo system. Another button dimmed the lights in the room.

I climbed up and told her to turn over. I started to gently massage her shoulders. I could feel her body begin to relax under my ministrations. I slowly worked my hands down her back, running my fingertips gently up and down her spine. She moaned softly with pleasure.

After finishing her back, I started on her feet. I then moved up her legs, softly running my fingers over her flesh. "That feels nice," she said. "Men don’t usually like foreplay, but women need to be warmed up slowly."

I smiled. She turned over and I massaged her front, fondling her breasts. I slipped my tongue over her hard nipples, circling her areolae. She gasped as I began sucking her nipples into my mouth, switching every few seconds.

"Open wide," I told her, sliding down between her legs. I spread open her lower lips and circled her swollen clit with my tongue. She squealed and clamped her legs around my head, locking me into place. I slid my tongue into her steaming pussy and started lapping up her juices, trying to drain her. She clamped even tighter around me as she exploded into a powerful orgasm. I slurped up all her sweet honey as her body stopped quivering. I pulled myself up next to her and kissed her, allowing her to taste her juices on my lips.

"Wow," Allison said. "You do that very well, James. Now it’s my turn." She reached down and stroked me to my full 7-inch length. Spreading my legs, she positioned her body between them, licking my inner thighs teasingly. She massaged my balls, which were rapidly filling with cum. "You’re heating up," she said.

She stuck out her tongue and licked my throbbing rod from the bottom of the shaft up to the head. I got even harder and my balls began to tighten as she circled the head with her tongue. Sliding her mouth down on me, she took my whole length into her as she licked me. "Mmmmm," she said, "that’s good."

Pulling her mouth off of me, she pinned me down with her hands and slid her pussy onto my engorged prick. Riding me hard, she bounced up and down with her interior muscles clamping around me, trying to milk my love-juice. I couldn’t last much longer and neither could she. With a tremendous scream of pure pleasure, she violently climaxed, her pussy clamping on my rod as she flooded me with her juices. I exploded deep into her, filling her with my climax.

She slid off of me and lay next to me on the bed. "That was the best sex I’ve had in at least 10 years," she said. "You definitely pass the test. I’d like to have you as my companion."

"I’d be honored," I said. "I’ll have my stuff moved in by next week. I have just one last question."

"What is it?" Allison asked.

"How long have you been observing me?" I responded.

"I didn’t do it personally," she said. "Six months ago, I sent my friend Loree to scout out the local pool halls. I figured that would be where I should look for love. Within a month, she picked you as the likeliest candidate."

"Loree Jon Jones has been observing me for 6 months?" I said.

"You know who she is, too?" Allison replied. "Good. I had her report everything about you to me. The more I heard, the more I liked… so today, I decided to make my move."

"I’m glad you did," I said. "I consider myself fortunate to be the chosen one."

"I know just what to do for the wedding reception," Allison said.

"Wedding reception?!" I gasped.

"Yes, you heard me," she said. "You like pool, obviously… so we’ll have a billiards party with all my rivals, who are also my best friends!"

I smiled. "Sealed with a kiss," I said, kissing my new lover and future wife on the lips.